


Two Gays Huntin' Ghosts

by OfAngels



Series: Two Gays with a Camera [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Camera Man Leo Valdez, Established Relationship, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Slavery, Non-Graphic Violence, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators, and husband, heartrate spikes is how he knows theres a spirit, im living vicariously through this fic, nico invested in a smartwatch, nico is the host of a decently popular paranormal investigation show and leo is his trusty cameraman, no beta readers we die like men, their show is called two gays huntin' ghosts, this ones safe faron, whoops i added bianca :/
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24691636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfAngels/pseuds/OfAngels
Summary: Nico di Angelo and Leo Valdez make up the cast and crew of the beloved paranormal investigation show, "Two Gays Huntin' Ghosts"
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Leo Valdez
Series: Two Gays with a Camera [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793542
Comments: 15
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter @localgaywriter

Nico had never in his career felt such an oppressive presence as soon as he left his car. He knew right away he didn’t want to go any further with this job, it was already far outside his comfort zone; considering he was in the deep south in an old cotton plantation, with his Afro-Latino partner. 

None of this job screamed good idea. But here they were, moving forward, microphone and camera at the ready.

Leo cleared his throat as Nico shook his hair out of his face, bouncing a bit to shake off the feeling. “You good?”

Nico nodded. “Doesn’t feel like the last one, they’re hostile here,”

Leo hefted the camera onto his shoulder, “They don’t feel hostile to me,”

Nico cracked a smile, “That’s good at least. Somebody has to carry the camera steady,”

“Is that all I am now?” Leo pouted.

Nico laughed as he adjusted the mic pack on his belt, shaking himself out one more time while Leo readied the camera.

“We are here in the East Texas Redlands, just a Kilometre from the Angelina River. Tonight we have been asked for by the owners of the Buona Terra Plantation Museum to inspect the area for paranormal activity. Many employees and guests have reported feeling a presence while touring the museum; some employees working at night reported items going missing and turning up where they should not have been.” Nico paused, trying to remember more of what the clearly frightened owner had said over the phone before sending them an address.

Leo snapped his fingers, “We should head up further, get some shots of the house and find the poor kid who's showing us around tonight.”

* * *

  
  


“This is Travis, a tour guide and gift shop cashier,” Travis waved as Nico introduced him, “Travis will be giving a quick tour to us before he leaves for the night.”

“Hopefully before sundown,” Travis mumbled.

Leo laughed as he trailed along behind them. “I take it you aren’t a fan of being here in the dark?”

“You guys are here for a reason, I’m the one who wouldn’t stop complaining. I’m not a fan of stuff falling off of high shelves onto my head, and hearing footsteps when I’m the only person in the building.” Travis was getting anxious and jumpy.

Nico was immediately into it, “Have other employees experienced this? Or had similar experiences while here?”

Travis sighed, “My brother runs the daycare and he said the kids talk about a lady they read to because she can’t, and one of the managers oversaw a camping expidition out in the fields with some cub scout troops, he woke up with huge welts all over his back like he had been whipped. It was fucking crazy he nearly quit that day.” he looked straight at Leo, “Can you imagine being a black guy working at an old plantation and waking up looking like you had been whipped? Props to the guy for staying but he refuses to be here anywhere near night time or go out in the fields.”

Nico faltered a bit at hearing that, immediately reconsidering bringing his husband here. He cleared his throat quietly, looking back to Travis, “Where shall we go first?”

Travis looked around before leading them off of the mansion’s porch and towards what looked like a long shed. Travis unlocked and slid the door open. 

“These were the stables and carriage house, probably the safest place on the property. By that I mean I have never gotten hurt or spooked in here.”

Nico slowly walked in, peaking into some of the empty stalls. “It is much quieter in here, way more calm and easy going.”

“What does that mean?” Travis asked looking at Leo.

Leo snorted, “He’s not a paranormal investigator because it's fun, he does it because he can feel and communicate with spirits better than the average person.”

Nico smiled at them, “How many places and buildings will we be seeing?”

“Well the normal tour takes about an hour, but if we move along quickly and only see the important spots we can get through about ten places? Maybe less, some of them are just like safer areas. The bad spots are the gift shop, the master bedroom, the fields and the slave house.”

Nico nodded, “Let's get moving then!”

* * *

Travis practically sprinted through the tour, taking them through the fields in under a minute (Granted they only went into the first row), showing them where the slave house is but not going inside, and to the grand finale: the mansion itself. Travis was apprehensive. The sun was starting to set and the already jumpy tour guide was buzzing with anxiety.

“Here’s the gift shop, and there is the shelf that likes to drop stuff on me even though it has a lip.” Travis pointed up at the self above the cash register. 

Leo of course wasn’t even looking, his camera firmly trained on the end of the hall instead. 

“See anything interesting out there?” Nico asked jokingly.

Leo turned back to face the gift shop, clearing his throat. “Nope not a thing.”

Travis nodded, “Alright great, anyway I’m in here all the time so I see the most things in here. Like I’ll hear people walk up to the door when I’m here at night, or things will get moved around while I’m cleaning, once I saw a little kid in the hallway but when I opened the door to check on them just in case they had gotten lost, they had disappeared. So I pulled up the security footage and I was the only person or moving thing picked up since closing. So yeah let’s move on, you can hang out after, let’s go let's go,” Travis started herding them out of the little gift shop.

Leo found himself staring down at the end of the hall again. Travis started going in the other direction, up towards the stairs to the second floor. Leo followed along, Nico taking up the rear so that Travis would be in the camera’s view.

“Now we are on our way to the Master bedroom on the second floor, near the study. I will not be going into the attic and I suggest you guys don’t either, not for once because of ghosts but because of structural integrity. The attic floor is super fragile and we don’t want to risk an injury while noone is here.” Travis explained to the camera. He was a natural at talking to the camera.

The master bedroom was behind a massive set of mahogany double doors. Leo was trying to get an effective shot of the doors with Nico and Travis, ending with the latino sitting on the floor looking up at them.

Nico looked at Travis, “So tell us about the Bedroom, why was it on your list of ‘haunted’ spots?”

“Uhh, mostly because just being in there freaks everyone out, it doesn’t matter who, everyone hates being in there. Guests say it feels like they're going to get hurt, some staff have said they hear women crying, and one of the cleaners said that they swear they saw a man in the mirror. They quit that night.”

Nico nodded, “Do you know anything about what could have happened in here to cause these feelings?”

Travis shrugged, “My bet is the plantation owner was a real bastard and probably either raped his wife or was raping his slaves.” The young man glanced to the bed, which was neatly made in a silk brocade that looked too vibrant to be an original. “He was killed in his bed while he was naked so take that how you want, no one knows who killed him either,” Travis continued, casual as if he were mentioning the owner’s cat.

Nico looked mildly shocked. “Well Travis thank you for your help and guidance and we hope you have a good rest of your day.” 

Travis handed Nico the keys and a map, wished them well and left, speedily enough you’d think he was being chased.

Nico turned to Leo as soon as Travis was gone. “I sure am glad the owners warned us about an unsolved murder before bringing us out here.”

Leo snorted, “Like that's the least of our problems, babe.”

* * *

Leo swept around the room, the camera moving slowly from one corner to the next as Nico peered out the large bedroom windows. It was eerie as all hell but nothing spectacular had happened since they watched their tour guide leave, Nico’s eyes watching the headlights disappear down the long stretch of road.

“You know, I didn’t want to freak the poor guy out but I’m pretty sure I saw something downstairs,” Leo said as Nico turned back to face him.

Nico shrugged, “Let’s go then, maybe it was the kid he saw one time.”

Nico calmly made his way back downstairs, idly remembering how Leo couldn’t seem to take his eyes away from one part of the hall. Maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe it was a spirit. Really with how much reported activity it could easily be either. But the kicker was how relaxed Leo seemed about it, considering he was the one who usually ended up with claw marks and bruises. Maybe it's the nature of the area, but Nico was deeply uncomfortable with his husband’s relaxed demeanor towards the situation.

Nico glanced down at his watch, catching his heart rate by accident. Higher than normal. Yikes. He looked to the camera clearing his throat lightly as he prepared his first time declaration. “It is now 8:47p.m., the sun has begun to set, and we are now on the main floor of the plantation house once again. Since arrival we have only felt very general vibes from the area, but we may have seen something here on our pass through earlier, in this hall way behind me.”

Nico gestured vaguely behind him, Leo slowly focusing the camera on a point behind Nico just over his shoulder. He could swear something was there but it was too dark to see and the infrared vision wasn’t picking anything up. He carefully motioned to Nico to continue down the hall, choosing not to speak. Nico turned, eyes straining to see anything before he turned his flashlight on, first pointed down at his feet. He knew better than to start it off at something he couldn’t see. He didn’t need anymore heart attacks, really.

He slowly began walking into the suffocating darkness of the hallway, his flashlight hardly piercing through it. He swept the beam back and forth on the floor, not wanting to miss any important details, or ledges. Tripping on camera was a humiliating experience that he knew a little too well. They made their way through, the only sounds being their foot falls, and soft controlled breathing. Every hair on Nico’s arms shot straight up as they rounded the corner, his breath suddenly choking up in his throat. Leo didn’t seem bothered.

Nico bounced the flashlight along the floor, the walls, everything it could reach. He wanted to see something, anything. He wanted to see what had made him so suddenly and oppressively afraid. But there was nothing. Nico glanced back to Leo, his wrist raised to the camera. 

“I wish I could explain why my BPM jumped from 60 to 80, but here I am, not even sure what the fuck is spooking me when we haven’t heard or seen anything yet,” Nico grumbled to the camera, pointedly ignoreing Leo’s little smirk. 

Then Leo’s eyes went wide.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter @localgaywriter

Leo desperately grabbed Nico’s wrist and wrenched him close, Nico stumbling into Leo’s chest. Nico turned back to see an empty space. He cleared his throat, trying to calm the heart that was trying to escape his ribcage. He didn’t know what Leo saw but he knew it must not have been friendly to have grabbed him away so forcefully.

“God I fucking hope I got that on tape,” Leo rasped, still holding onto his husband’s wrist.

Nico swallowed thickly, wanting the feeling of cotton balls in his mouth to go away. There was nothing more frightening than only one of them seeing something. He could survive both of them seeing a spirit, or a vision, but gods above, getting fucked up separately was another circle of hell.

He gently brushed himself off, stepping away from Leo quietly and staring at the space behind where he used to be standing. As always when Leo saw something, Nico couldn’t find a trace. Just a terrible deep set feeling of unease wrapping itself around his bones. 

“I take it whatever you saw wasn’t the most friendly looking face?” Nico asked, mostly just trying to get Leo talking so it wasn’t just the ambient sounds of an old building and his own anxiously fast breathing.

You’d think Nico would be a little less afraid of spirits after a lifetime of seeing them, and two years into his own show about them, but something about the South made him feel so deeply unsafe. Maybe it was the frequent violent and angry spirits they met as soon as they crossed into the bible belt, or maybe it was the fact that he was gay and his husband was a person of colour. That's nearly a death sentence in the South.

Leo swallowed audibly, eyes flicking back to Nico. “More like a lack of face and a very obvious whip in his hand? Maybe it’s just my instincts talking but that doesn’t seem so fun to me,”

Nico can only imagine. Hopefully he’d only have to imagine. He took a deep steadying breath, cracking his neck and clearing his throat.

“Let's get moving then. Before he decides to start showing a face,” Nico said, firmly pointing his flashlight forwards on the floor again.

* * *

“The time is now 9:26, and we have hit a door we don’t have the key for,” Nico said, holding up the key ring he was given.

“I am ashamed to admit it took me 10 minutes to get through 5 keys, but here we are. We were not told of any rooms or doors that we wouldn’t have access to, aside from the attic. Which technically,” Nico looked at the camera, his eyebrows raised, “we can go in, we were just told we might break the ceiling if we try.”

Nico turned back to the heavy door. It didn’t match any of the surroundings in the hallway, being made of a heavy metal, likely iron, rather than a deep chestnut wood. He held up the little tour map against the wall, letting Leo come up beside him so the camera could see the map. 

“Fun fact, this door also isn't listed on the map. Here we can see two parlours on either side of the hall, and the end of a hall. No door, no window, no ‘Sorry this area is off limits’” Nico pointed at the map as he pulled out a pen from Leo’s fanny pack. “We will have to circle back after we rummage around a bit, because there is clearly a lock on the door,” Nico said as he drew a lock on the map where the door should be.

Nico pointed at the lock on the door. It was massive, and looked like it would use an old fashioned skeleton key. “I’m coming back for you I swear,” he said, stuffing the map back into his pocket as they started to walk away.

Leo followed Nico dutifully into a parlour, the room just packed with decadent Victorian style furniture. Half the room was roped off with velvet and plexiglass, a sign declaring no one may pass, and that all the furniture behind the barrier was original to the house and must not be touched to keep it preserved. Nico of course immediately stepped over the thigh high barrier, going straight for the desk set against the wall.

“Nico I’m pretty sure we aren’t supposed to touch the vintage stuff,” Leo called, standing firmly behind the rope, camera zoomed in to where Nico was pulling open the drawers and shuffling through the contents.

Nico looked over his shoulder with a grin, bringing back memories of a teenage punk spray painting buildings. “You and I both know they always leave the stuff in drawers alone, the key will probably be in here since no one bothered to look. Or at least in one of the rooms,”

Leo frowned, still not stepping over the barrier. He reasoned with himself, they won’t get too mad if only one person is doing the rummaging. Nico shut the drawers, pouting dramatically as he turned back around, looking at Leo like it was his fault Nico didn’t find the key in the first piece of historic furniture he put his grubby hands on.

“Would you get over here and help?”

“Absolutely not.”

Nico pouted again. He tossed a petulant “Fine!” over his shoulder and went back to searching through the drawers of the desk and surrounding chests and wardrobes. Leo made the executive decision to look around the room. The part of the room he was allowed to be in. Like a law abiding citizen.

The shuffling of papers and opening of antique doors effectively made it very hard to hear anything else in the area. It was almost enough to cut out the distinct sound of heels on hardwood. Leo whirled around to face the door they left wide open. Mistake number one of the night: open doors are an invitation. Luckily enough though, as soon as the door was watched, the sound stopped. Whoever was walking didn’t want the attention he was giving.

Leo quietly stepped forwards towards the door, eyes watering with the effort to not blink. His hand gripped the door's ornate crystal handle and pushed it shut. He didn’t see anything, even with the infrared camera at the ready. Thank god. He slowly started to realise all he could hear was his own breathing.

“You okay Leo?” Leo flinched as Nico spoke, suddenly aware of just how tense he had been.

He looked over to his husband, who was no longer in the off limits area of the room. Nico looked clearly concerned for him. Not entirely surprising, Nico had been on edge since they got here and Leo’s been seeing things for most of the night.

“I’m fine, it’s just- the door was open,” he said, hand still gripping the knob hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

Nico nodded slightly. He knew Leo was superstitious as all hell, but he had some damn good reasons for it. Really he wasn’t sure if they even really counted as just superstitions anymore.

Nico stepped forwards, gently pulling Leo’s hand off the door. “Why don’t you take a breather, baby?” He really hated seeing Leo so put off. Nico was supposed to be the jumpy one, after all.

* * *

“How many more rooms are you going to root through before you accept that we aren’t going to find a key?”

“I swear to all things holy, I will find the damn key to that stupid ugly doesn’t-even-match-the-theme door!” Nico cried, his hands thrown up in the air, ancient (okay not  _ that _ ancient) papers clutched in his hands.

He slowly turned around to Leo, squinting in the dark. “You’re laughing at me. I am so not letting you into bed tonight.”

Leo started to actually laugh. He can just imagine how many times he was going to hear that tonight. It had become a running joke for the fans, who faithfully keep a tally of how many times it gets threatened in each episode. It's at a point where he has to take a picture of Nico after he falls asleep (On Leo of course) just to prove Nico is a big softy who can’t keep to his threats. The fans love it.

“Nico, honey, baby, light of my life, we’ve been through every room in the house. It's not listed because it doesn’t open. The door might be left over from an addition to the house that got taken down.” Leo tried to placate Nico, just wanting to move on from the master bedroom after watching Nico pull everything out of the nightstand.

Nico just bit his lip and frowned in defeat. He didn’t want to give up, but Leo had a point. And it’s happened before, where a door was left on a wall with nothing on the other side. Nico sighed deeply.

“Fine. We’ll go. Why don’t we go back to the library? It was super cold in there, maybe we’ll find something.” He said opening the door and heading out without waiting for Leo to answer.

Leo followed him partway down the hall, where Nico was standing in front of a mirror, but quite pointedly not looking at it. He raised his wrist up to the camera, showing the time and Nico’s heart rate.

“Hi my name’s Nico di Angelo it is now 10:56 and I swear to fuck this mirror was not here the first three times I walked down this hall.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter @localgaywriter

“Leo please tell me I’m insane and I entirely overlooked a creepy ass mirror three times,” Nico stared at him, eyebrows pinched together in his worry. Nico really wasn’t a fan of things getting moved around, whether or not he got a warning beforehand that it will probably happen.

Leo turned the camera to the mirror in question, zooming in on the view of Nico in it. Nico’s reflection had bruises on his wrists, and spots where the skin had been rubbed raw and were bleeding lightly. It would be an understatement to say Leo was uncomfortable.

“Let's think about this after we step away from a potentially evil object?” Leo said, stepping backwards into the bedroom once again. Nico thankfully followed without any protests. Or incidents.

Nico stared at Leo as he shut the door behind them, “What's the superstition of the day, then?”

Leo gestured at the giant four poster bed. “Toss a sheet over it and anything inside won’t bother us. And if one of us dies tonight we won’t get trapped inside it.”

Nico turned back to his husband, blankets already halfway off. “Can you not? You know I hate when you do that. I swear to god I’ll make you sleep on the couch tonight!” he hissed.

Leo snickered. Nico went back to trying to pull the blankets off of the bed, muttering to himself about mean husbands and stupid heavy bedding. That's when Leo started hearing the damn footsteps again. Nico turned back to him slowly, eyes the size of a small planet. He lifted his watch to Leo, his heart rate jumped up to 123 BPM. Normally, he was at a cool 59 beats. He did not want to be close enough to a spirit in such a hostile environment that he casually doubles his BPM.

“Do you think we could survive the jump out the window?”

“Babe the windows are bolted shut.”

“You’re a big blubbering baby,” Nico hissed, back already pressed against one of the windows.

Leo wanted to shoot back ‘ _ You’re the one who wants to jump out the second story of a building over a widdle ghost in the hall, _ ’ but he had a feeling it was pretty heavily based on how off put Nico’s been the whole night. He sighed softly and pulled Nico away from the window.

“Just get the blanket for the mirror, I’m pretty sure this one’s harmless. At least it was last time,” Leo said, giving Nico’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Nico frowned. “I didn’t realise there  _ was _ a last time,”

Uh oh. Mistake number two of the night: Leo didn’t declare every encounter he had. Wide, angry eyes were burning a hole in the side of Leo’s head. Not the kind of  _ haha no sex for you _ angry, no this was  _ Leo you dumbass that could have been dangerous _ angry. If a ghost didn’t suck his soul out of his body, he was pretty sure Nico would do the trick.

“Leo, baby, honey, light of my life, I’m going to go fucking feral if you do that again.”

Nico’s voice was a chilling whisper, the slight tremor between words betraying just how scared Nico really was. Leo knew it wasn’t anger in a traditional sense. It was more like when someone says,’ _ I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed. _ ’

“I’m just going to breeze past this and say get the blanket Nico, I’m going to open the door now,” Leo Valdez, expert at regrounding his husband under stress.

The tension in Nico’s lithe frame was down right palpable, nearly shaking as he clutched the linen under sheet. Leo, true to his word, opened the door. To an empty hall. No spirit, no demon, no faceless men with whips. 

_ No mirror. _

* * *

“It is 11:04p.m., and I genuinely think I’m going to have a heart attack,” Nico grumbled to the camera, fatigue settling in his body like molasses.

“Seriously this might be the one to take me out guys, we haven’t even gone outside yet for fuck’s sake!” he cried out, rubbing his hands over his face to try and express his agony.

Nico looked to the camera once again. “I think we should go downstairs. We are just going to ignore the big fuck off mirror and mystery people who we’ve heard before apparently, and go take a breather away from the freaking murder bed.”

Leo winced a little at Nico’s words. Maybe he should mention the reflection he saw? Maybe he shouldn’t… No he doesn't need to start doubling up on mistakes.

“Hey uh speaking of the disappearing mirror,” Nico stared hard at him. “Your reflection was kinda, wrong?”

Nico blinked and took a deep breath. “That’s why you were recording the mirror and not me wasn’t it?”

Leo nodded. Nico groaned and whined like a child. He knows just how bad Nico hates spooky mirrors. Nico won’t even watch a horror movie if there’s anything in the trailer with a mirror.

“You know what? Let’s go to the gift shop! There weren't any mirrors down there, not even in the hall!” He said, practically bouncing as he urged Leo along.

* * *

“This is nice. Don’t you think? Look, pure raw cotton!” Nico pointed up at the shelf above the cash register. 

Bad move. As soon as Leo zoomed the camera in on the bag of cotton it teetered over the edge, landing on the floor and spilling behind the register. Nico and Leo looked at each other.

“I really wish I could say that was me,”

“Travis did say things fall off that shelf a lot. Maybe it’s a faulty shelf?” Leo tried to reason, knowing without a doubt it was nothing but your typical  _ ‘spirit needs to shove stuff off shelves and tables’ _ .

Nico didn’t look too convinced, his eyebrows raised in a clear statement of ‘ _ Really? _ ’ He pretended not to notice. He walked around the counter to get a better shot of the spilled cotton. What he found was a distinct lack of anything on the floor, as if nothing had been dropped, and the floor was just swept. His head shot up to the shelf, but the cotton wasn’t there either.

He glanced at Nico who clearly had noticed if his frown was anything to go by, “Do you think there’s a thief?”

“Not a time for jokes, Leo.”

Leo rolled his eyes, “I meant it! What if the spirit likes to steal?”

He got a blank look for his efforts. Leo just shrugged at that, he can believe whatever he wants to believe. Nico is just in a mood is all. Probably from all the stuff he hates getting tossed in his face. At least things falling off shelves isn’t on the list. According to Nico he sees it from just about every spirit out there. It’s the easiest way to grab someone’s attention.

Another good one is straight up knocking on the fucking door and making Nico jump a solid two feet into the air.

Nico looked at him, and back to the door, and back to him. Oh. Big blubbering baby gets to open the door. Leo rolled his eyes and went to the door, hand resting on the crystal door knob.

“You have to be nice if I open the door,” he called out, hoping whoever was on the other side would be nice and listen to his request. He received no answer. He took a deep breath, pulling the door open with a prayer firmly on repeat in his mind.

Nobody. Not a soul. Not a- why is the bag of cotton on the floor?

Nico couldn’t choke back a laugh, the tension breaking as Leo heard his second favourite sound on the planet. He looked back to his husband, an utterly bewildered look on his face as Nico couldn’t help but laugh. Oh. That’s not really Nico laughing.

Nico’s wonderfully expressive, big brown eyes were blank, glassy even. Terribly reminiscent of an antique doll’s eyes. Nico was expressing the emotion of a spirit. And as soon as it started, it stopped, Nico blinking in shock as he looked up at Leo.

“I’m not an expert but I think a spirit just pranked us and made you laugh at me,” he explained softly as Nico rubbed his eyes. Nico always cried a bunch after getting hijacked, but it wasn’t like a real cry. Just very very wet eyes.

“Well at least they’re friendly I guess,” Nico mumbled, moving to peak out into the hallway. Part of him wanted to see something. The rational part of him knew he should stop trying to see things in dark hallways.

“You think they’ll keep it up with the jokes?”

“Honestly I hope that’s all we get. It still doesn’t feel safe here.”

Leo sighed. He knew Nico didn’t want to go upstairs again, and they couldn’t stay here in the gift shop all night. That really only left two places to go unless they decided to sweep through the first floor again. And Leo wholeheartedly did not want to go out in the fields. Or the slave house really… 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter @localgaywriter

Nico looked back at Leo over his shoulder, “I think we have to go outside now,”

Leo had the audacity to pout at him. Nico rolled his eyes, and pointedly stepped over the bag of cotton into the hall. Leo had no choice but to follow or let Nico go out by himself. And Leo was nothing if not a loyal husband. 

Sometimes he wishes he wasn’t. Because the once beautiful scenery of the fields and the ornate mansion became an eerie and daunting landscape once the sun had set.

Leo kept his eyes peeled as they stepped off the wrap-around porch onto the dirt path. He couldn’t quite differentiate his imagination from reality in the near pitch dark. Thank god for infrared cameras. 

Poor Nico didn’t have such an advantage, his flashlight going in a sweeping motion along the ground. He had to trust in his husband spotting anything on camera, had to trust that nothing would be outside. But Nico never was a very lucky person. He knew deep in the pit of his stomach that they wouldn’t be entirely alone. Hell, if he were to just go by the encounters that Travis had told them of, he knew he wouldn’t be alone out here.

He turned to the camera, taking a deep steadying breath as he checked the time. Would it be better to wait till after midnight to go into the field? If they go before they could get caught up in something, but if they go after they might get caught in the witching hour. Really it might be terrible either way.

“Well, we have 50 minutes to midnight. Where do you think would be safer for the thinning of the veil?”

Leo groaned. Why is it always his decision? Why can’t Nico make the big scary choices for once? Leo glanced at the fields. Whoever did the whipping on that other guy would be more likely to make his appearance while the veil is thin.

“Not the fields. Honestly can we just skip the fields altogether? We can pretend the footage got corrupted!” Leo raised his eyebrows. Maybe Nico would agree, or think it might be too dangerous for them.

“Leo, you just recorded yourself saying that. The editors would kick our ass. This isn’t youtube anymore babe,” Nico said, his eyes soft as he stared at Leo. He didn’t want to go in the field either, that was just asking for trouble at this point.

Not to mention the scarecrow he had spotted when they first toured with Travis. You have a scarecrow turn its head to look at you one time, and they’re never the same.

* * *

Sometimes Leo wondered how Nico handled his sensitivity to the supernatural. Specifically times like now, where he was struggling to breath normally; like a 50lbs weight was squashing his chest. Every hair on his body felt like it was standing straight up. He was breaking out in a nervous sweat. He wanted to go home so badly.

The slave house was certainly a bad place. Bad bad place. It felt like he was being smothered. It was so terribly hot inside, the air felt like it was choking him out.

He looked at Nico. He looked impossibly pale in the dim light, taking very controlled breaths. No wonder Travis hadn’t even opened the doors earlier. Being in here was like willingly stepping into hell. Nico back at him, their eyes connecting.

“I’m warning you now, don’t fucking record me if I puke.”

Leo nodded mutely. Nico was really going through the wringer tonight. He hoped to all things holy that he wouldn’t have to witness his husband having a heart attack. It was definitely starting to look that way. 

Then Nico bent over. Leo swiftly turned his back to face the wall. He knew Nico’s mic would be picking up every little noise he was making. The camera might even be catching some of the retching. Leo calmly (Or as calmly as you can as your husband pukes up his guts over some spirits) got some more ‘aesthetic’ shots of the area. The bunks were frighteningly reminiscent of the ones he would see in all the holocaust documentaries. Seems terrible people look for inspiration from other terrible people.

The bunks were stacked three high, and ran the length of the wall. The wood that made up the bunk was coarse looking, most likely intentionally so. He knew quite well from the stories his own family passed down from slavery that the owners often made their slaves live in the worst conditions, actively choosing the least comfortable options for anything related to the slave houses. His 6th great grandparents would attest to that.

* * *

Part of Leo was glad he didn’t do any of the editing anymore. There’s nothing like a studio picking up your youtube series. They were definitely going to need to voice over this part or cut it entirely. 

“Do you think we should clean this up? Or maybe they have people for this,” Nico wondered out loud, scuffing some dirt onto his mess.

Leo turned back to him, his own stomach now doing a few flips. At least Nico looked better. They might not be spending as much time in here as they thought. Leo certainly didn’t plan on sticking around anymore, he’s ruined shoes before and he didn’t want any repeats.

“Come on let's look around a bit.”

* * *

Nico held his flashlight up to the large memorial at the back of the slave house, reading out loud for the camera.

“On this plantation it was recorded 426 people were held as slaves, with 239 recorded to have died on the property. In this building people were forced to rest, cramped onto bunks that could not hold them all, or to sleep in the dirt. It is believed that during the last months of slavery there was a planned revolt against the owners of the plantation,” Nico took a breath moving onto the next section on the plaque, “The death of their former owner was recorded by his teenaged children, who observed the revelry and celebration of not only the newfound freedom, but the death of them man who tortured and abused the former slvaes, many since birth. In the personal journal of the Owner’s wife it is written, ‘the blacks sing and dance with such a joy I have never seen in any one person. Property has become people, and I am thankful for my safety.’ Whether the safety referred is meant from her husband or from the former slaves, is unknown. It is heavily implied in the personal writings of much of the owner’s family that he was a violent and temperamental man, striking at his slaves at even the slightest thing.”

“Isn’t that just cherry,” Leo said softly, camera zooming in slightly on the plaque.

“His own kids watched the party. Makes you wonder how they felt about him huh?”

Leo looked at Nico, wondering quietly if the man with the whip might have been the owner. Hopefully they don’t get a chance to find out.

Nico turned back to the plaque. “There were so many people here. So many died, do you think they ever got a ceremony?”

Leo could guess purely on how crowded the building felt with only him and Nico inside, that no, none received a ceremony. He rested a hand on Nico’s shoulder. He knew how Nico felt about those who didn’t get the rest they deserved. Most spirits found it terribly hard to cross without the guidance of a ceremony, no matter the culture the person came from.

Nico glanced back at Leo, eyes betraying his neutral expression.

Leo offered him a smile. “How much do you think those candles in the gift shop cost?”

“You know I don’t give a damn, everyone deserves guidance.”

The pair rushed back to the gift shop, gathering up 10 plain white candles, and bringing them back to the slave house. Nico arranged them in a semi circle facing the east, lighting them and sitting down. He took a few deep breaths before he started praying.

He knew a solid 4 prayers, each for the sending of souls. He would repeat each twice, to ensure all were heard by the spirits surrounding him. He hoped the guidance would be beneficial to them, even as late as it was to arrive. Nico had said the prayers many times in his life, more than the average person likely ever would. 

Leo was a silent observer, eyes never moving from Nico as he recited each prayer. He always watched as Nico did, enthralled by the way Nico changed. It was very subtle, but he had known Nico for a long time. He knew Nico was never confident in what he was saying, unless he were repeating the words of someone else. He knew Nico never sat truly still, back straight and legs crossed. It was like another entity would take over during these times, and Leo knew it was entirely possible. But Nico had only cried afterwards once.

For Bianca.


End file.
